Craig, Ashleigh, Marco, Ellie and Jimmy drove to Downtown Toronto to spend New Year’s together. They were having a good evening, making jokes and laughing and just spending time together. At around 7:30 the crew got hungry and decided to stop at a local pizzeria for some dinner. They wanted to eat at the town’s hot spot and in order to do that, they needed a local. They walked down streets looking at people thinking as if maybe it would be a good person to ask. Marco found a gay man sitting at a bench all by himself and walked over to him as the rest stayed behind and watched. Cold, Ellie sat on Jimmy’s lap and Craig was behind Ashleigh hugging her to his stomach and chest as Marco said hello to the gay guy. “Marco Del Rossi.” He said holding his hand out for the man to shake, the man look up at him and got a little grin before he got up off the seat. “Tommy Gillins.” He said shaking Marco’s hand with a smile. “Uh, listen my friends and I are trying to look for the best local pizza palor in town to eat and I was wondering if you knew of any good ones.” Marco said with a smile as he pointed to everyone all bundled up to keep warm. “Yeah, let me take you there.” He said with a smile as Tommy waved to the friends to come near. “I know of the perfect place.”

          They walked into the pizzeria all laughing as they made themselves comfortable at a table. Tommy went up and ordered the food. “He’s cute.” Ashleigh said to Marco, “Hey.” Craig said as it took him a minute to get his coat off. Ashleigh smiled at Craig as Tommy walked back to the table. “Listen, man, how much do we owe?” Jimmy said as he pulled out his wallet. “Oh, don’t worry, it’s on me.” Tommy said as he checked Marco out, Marco smiled at him as the bell for the door rang. Ashleigh looked up and saw David, David Collins, and her face went pale white, she felt as if she had lost all breathe. David saw her and smiled and watched her as he walked up to the counter to order his food, Craig saw the ghostly expression on Ashleigh’s and, worried, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder for comfort. “You okay?” he asked, Ashleigh didn’t say anything, she just nodded her head yes. Ashleigh started to sweat from the feeling of being watched by him. Feeling got so bad that she had to get some air. “Will you excuse me for a sec?” she asked getting up. “Where are you going?” Craig asked worried, “I have to go to the bathroom.” She said as she made her way towards the doors. Everyone went about their business and Craig watched her leave when he noticed she wasn’t heading to the bathroom. “Um, Joey’s calling. I’ll be right back.” Craig said as he got out his cell phone to call everyone and grabbed his coat to head outside. Everyone sat there and looked at one another confused, wondering if they had missed something.

          Ashleigh stepped outside and watched her breath form a cloud as she calmed herself before Craig came outside placing his phone back in his pocket. “What’s going on?” he asked worried. “Nothing.” She said, “I just needed some air, that’s all.”

“Is it something I did? Is it something I said?”

“No, no, it wasn’t like that at all I just needed a little alone time.”

“Do you think I’m suffocating you?”

“No, no, why would you think that?”

“Oh, I don’t know because ever since we got here you’ve been acting pretty pissed off…about something…”

“And you think it’s because I think you’re suffocating me?”

“Yes.”

“Well it’s not like that at all, trust me.”

“Well then what is it? Tell me.” He snapped back at her, she looked up at him and shuck her head no. “Ashleigh, please, tell me what’s wrong.” He asked worried. “Can we eat somewhere else?” she asked rolling her eyes. Craig looked at her confused and then looked in the window, “The food’s already at our table…” he said, “Do you not like they’re food or something?” he asked her still confused. “No, no, it’s not that, it’s just…I don’t know…” she said looking to the floor. “Well then what is it?” he asked her as he took a step closer, placing his hands on her shoulders for comfort. “The guy inside…” she said motioning her head to the window in the direction of where he was sitting. “The one that just went to the bathroom.” She said as Craig looked hard through the window. “What about him?” he asked, “Before I came to Degrassi I sorta…against my will…had a thing with him…” she asked as her voice trailed off, she was worried of how Craig would respond, how he would act. “So he’s an ex?” he asked still confused. “I was drunk…he was drunk, or at least I think, and he sorta…”she said trailing off some more. “He, took advantage of you?” he asked in a little pissed and a little surprised tone, knowing that somehow Ashleigh had been sexually abused by him. “I didn’t want to…” she said but she was cut off when Craig quickly turned back around and went inside. “Craig!” she said yelling after him.

She followed him inside and everyone watched as she chased Craig down a little aisle. “Craig, will you stop for a second!? Craig!” she said as he turned the corner. Ashleigh turned the corner and stopped dead in her path, behind Craig, when she saw David. “Ashleigh, so good to see you.” David said as he walked closer to Ashleigh but Craig stepped in front of her to stop him. “Excuse me, sir.” David said in a rude tone as he tried to make his way closer to Ashleigh but Craig pushed him out of the way. David walked closer to Craig and Ashleigh, enraged, and pushed Craig. Craig got a pissed off look on his face and punched David right in the jaw. Ashleigh jumped back startled and then David got his balance back and punched Craig right in the jaw. Craig fell back onto Ashleigh as she caught him with his head and her hands. “Are you okay?” she asked worried, Craig didn’t say anything, he just got right out of her and turned around and punched David again. They ended up getting into a fist fight. “Stop it! Craig, stop it!” she yelled at them before everyone came in the back to break up the fight. Marco pulled Craig away as Tommy kept David away, “You don’t look at her, you don’t touch, and you don’t even think about her, we clear!?” Craig snapped back as he was pulled out of the pizzeria.

Marco and Jimmy talked to Craig outside while Ellie and Tommy kept Ashleigh company. David was escorted out of the pizzeria and banned, while Craig was outside, and Ashleigh was bawling inside. She had all sorts of emotions, she felt as though she had just lost Craig and she didn’t know why and she was angry at David for still treating her like a piece of trash, still throwing her around like garbage. “Do you want to talk?” Ellie asked her worried as she held her hand on Ashleigh’s back for comfort. “He didn’t even hear the whole story.” Ashleigh said through her tears.

 “Craig, are you on your medication?” Marco asked Craig, outside, as he tried to stop Craig from bugging out again. “YES! STOP ASKING ME THAT!” he snapped back, “Well, uh, Craig you don’t seem like ya are.” Jimmy said. “I am, now stop asking.” He said trying to calm himself down by catching his breath.  “Craig, why did you beat down on the guy?” Marco asked confused and concerned. “He took advantage of Ash, he took it too far with her…He took advantage of Ash.” Craig said as he started to break down himself.

*        *        *

They had all planned on going to a New Years rave that evening and against Ashleigh and Craig’s will, they went. Tommy showed them the way and soon after he was invited in. The rave was just like any other, loud and crazy. The smell of pot filled the room and even though Ashleigh loved rave for some reason she wasn’t quite enjoying this one. All she kept thinking about is what Craig was feeling and she hadn’t seen him since the pizzeria, but she decided to enjoy herself while she started dancing with the first person she saw. Ellie and Jimmy were dancing as well and Tommy and Marco were talking by the food stand. “You seem nice.” Tommy said with a smile to Marco, “You seem nice too.” Marco replied with a smile as they checked one another out. They looked at one another in the eye for a little while before they leaned in and planted a passionate kiss upon their lips.

While Marco was hooking up with Tommy, Ashleigh was worried about were Craig had gone too. She knows raves are big and filled with people but she had stayed near Ellie and Jimmy so she thought if Craig were ever to come out from were ever he was he would go to them and Ashleigh would be able to see him. As the song changed Ashleigh saw Marco and Tommy head up a long and tall staircase and Ashleigh quickly followed behind. The stairs lead to an upstairs restaurant, kind of, it was decked out to match the rave and there was no music playing to you could only hear the bumping from the music downstairs and there were these little private rooms which the tables were held and it was ridiculously expensive to eat there.

Ashleigh wondered around the narrow restaurant for a little while looking for Craig but all the doors to the private rooms were closed. A waiter opened a door and Ashleigh quickly rushed over to see if it was Craig but in order not to seem to obvious she stayed at the room next to it and waited to hear the voice. The man ordered something that didn’t sound like something Craig would order but Ashleigh recognized the voice. A little confused Ashleigh got a quick glance of the who the person was before the waiter closed the sliding door and it was Steve Martin. Ashleigh rolled her eyes at him and continued to search for any signs of Craig, “Can I help you Ms?” a waiter had asked her since he’s been watching her wonder aimlessly around the restaurant. “Do you happen to know if a Craig Manning is eating here?” she asked, “He’s sorta tall, dark curly hair…”she said to the waiter who stood there with a dumbfound look on his face. “Big nose.” Ashleigh snapped back in hurry to look for him and then the waiter’s face sparkled. “Are you suppose to be with him?” the waiter asked as he headed for a room, Ashleigh nodded her head yes and the waiter opened the door for Ashleigh.

Craig looked up from his sushi roll and saw Ashleigh standing there. He all of a sudden got a startled look on his face as she took a seat inside the little room. “Thank you.” She told the waiter as he closed the door. “Craig, can we talk?” she asked making herself comfortable, Craig just continued eating his food a little dissolved. “Alright so if you’re not gonna talk then I will. Why are you mad at me? If you’re mad at me, I don’t know. I mean it’s not like we talked about it or anything, “past partners”. And you shouldn’t be given me the silent treatment when you’re just as easily at fault. Ellie warned me about you when we started going out, ‘Stay away, he’s trouble’ she said, ‘He’ll get close to you and end up breaking your heart’. Luckily for me you haven’t broken my heart just yet, but I know about Ash and Manny, I’m not stupid.” She said as Craig lifted his head up to look at her right in the eye from the shock she had from knowing. “Craig I’ve lived in this town for three, maybe four years, I know what went on…Craig, there’s a lot you don’t know about me and it’s because I wanna take my time with you.” She said, “And that party? You wanted me to sleep with you after thirty minutes…” he said, “Alright so maybe I’m being a little hypocritical but Craig I’ve rushed into just about every relationship I’ve ever had and it’s all come out like crap in the end and I don’t know to end up on that kind of term with you. I’m not saying we’re gonna get married or anything, maybe we will maybe we wont but it doesn’t matter, cuz right now this is life and this is how it is and this is how we have to accept it.”

The car ride home was awkward and silent, the radio didn’t even play. Craig just drove Ashleigh home as usual except they didn’t talk, at all, like they normally do. Craig pulled up to Ashleigh’s house and they sat there for a second not doing a thing. Ashleigh unbuckled her seatbelt and collected her thing. “So, I guess, I’ll see you in school.” She said to Craig as she started to open the door, he sat there for a minute and when she didn’t get an answer so started to head out of the car. “Ashleigh, wait.” He said grabbing her arm and pulling her back into the car. “I’ve been thinking, this whole time, and I don’t think I’m at you, I think I’m madder at that guy, he hurt you, he hurt the only person that means the most to me and it hurt me to see you still hurt and I just couldn’t stand to see it. So I’m not really mad at you, after you mentioned that we hadn’t really talked about past relationships so I was able to clear that out of my head and I realized that he was the reason I got angry. So I’m sorry if you thought I was mad at you, I wasn’t, I was really just trying to clear my head.” He said as he tried to make sense of it all. “Thank you.” She said with a smile as she opened the door again. She looked into the driveway and saw Scott’s car and she could feel her pupils shrink from the fear that they would be alone. “Uh, you wanna come in? We could maybe talk about it. I can tell you the whole story this time.” She said with a faint laugh. Craig nodded his head yes and they both got out of the car, Craig’s hand brushed her hand as they walked out to the door and he grabbed it gently leading her to the door.

The entered the house and it was dead silent, Craig hug is coat up on the rack as usual as Ashleigh called out for Scott. She walked around the house and finally found him passed out in the dinning room, his head out the table with a beer in a hand. She rushed in a little worried. “Scott?” she asked him to see if she’d get a response. She walked over to him placing her hands on his back and said Scott, again, into his ear. He rolled over to face, eyes still closed and slurred out “baby” rather than her name. “Okay, up, up.” She said as she lifted him off the chair, Craig walked in and rushed over to help. They grabbed him under the arms and he tripped all the way to the bedroom down the hall, spilling the beer in his hand on the way. They got him to his room and they dropped him onto the bed. Ashleigh took off his shoes while Craig placed the beer on the night stand. “What’s that smell?” Craig asked as he took in a deep whiff of the air. Ashleigh took a whiff of the air, “Something’s burning.” She said as she rushed into the kitchen. She pulled out the oven mitts and opened the oven to see a turkey set fire. She pulled out the turkey and fire extinguished the flames down revealing a black bird. “What is that?” Craig asked as he walked in after helping Scott in the bed, “Every New Years my mom makes a turkey, I don’t know why, she just does it…” she said as she realized that the mom was nowhere in sight. “My mother.” She said as she ran into the bedroom. “Where’s my mom?” she snapped at Scott. “Calm down kitten, she went to get Sarah.” He said slurring as he made his way off the bed. She rolled her eyes and ran out of the room, slamming his door behind her. She saw Craig standing in the doorway to the kitchen; she took a deep breath and pushed him out of the way so she could get in. She grabbed some windex and some paper towels and walk into the hallway. She got down on her hands and knees and started cleaning up the spill, holding her tears back as best she could. Craig walked over to her and sat down beside her, “Here I’ll take care of this and you go and take your coat off and settle down.” He said as he started to get the paper towels. “No, it’s okay, I got it!” she snapped back, “No, really, it’s okay, I’ll take care of it.” He said, “I’m used to it, don’t bother!” she snapped back again. Craig sat there confused and stunned as he watched her clean up the mess. Ashleigh continued to hold her tears back as best she could, sniffling, Craig realized something was up. “Ash, are you okay?” he asked concerned. “Yeah, I’m fine. Here you can take it.” She said handing him the towels and windex as she got up.

Ashleigh walked into the living as tears started to fall from her eyes. She hated having to come home everyday to the same old routine and she hated that Craig had to see it but in heart she knew it was better if he was there so Scott couldn’t touch her. “Okay, it’s all cleaned up.” He said as he entered the living, Ashleigh quickly turned around after wiping away her tears, “Ash, are you okay?” he asked concerned. “Yeah, I’m fine, just tired.” She said nodding her head for reassurance. “Okay, then, I’ll go.” He said as he started to get his coat but Ashleigh pushed him. “No, stay! Please don’t go…At least not right now, okay?” she asked looking up into his eyes. He looked down on her and he could tell she was hurt but he wasn’t quite sure what about. Ashleigh felt guilty for everything that had happened this night and somehow wanted to make it up to him so she leaned in and planted a deep and passionate kiss on his lips. Feeling the passion rise inside them, Craig pulled Ashleigh closer to him, wrapping his arms around her waist. Ashleigh slowly started making her way towards the stairs pulling Craig after her. He followed her up to her room where they feel onto Ashleigh’s bed. Ashleigh made herself comfortable as Craig adjusted himself on top her. Moving in small motions, Craig slipped his hands up her shirt and held onto her waist and pulled her up so they were sitting on the bed and he removed her shirt revealing her black bra with a pink lace. They stayed sitting, Ashleigh straddling Craig’s lap as she too slipped his shirt off. Craig gently planted her back down on the bed, Ashleigh still having her legs wrapped around his waist as she slid her hands down his chest to his pants and undid them, Craig assisted in pulling them off when they finally let go of the kiss. Just when Craig rested back on Ashleigh they heard the door open downstairs and the sound of Sarah and Mrs. Hogan. “Hello? Scott?” Mrs. Hogan asked as she closed the door. Craig and Ashleigh looked at one another in shock and Ashleigh quickly put on the first shirt she saw, “Stay here.” She said as she ran downstairs.

“God damn it, Scott!” yelled Mrs. Hogan as she saw the burnt turkey on the stove. “Why can’t you do anything good around here?” she snapped back as she searched the house for him. “Where’s your father?” Mrs. Hogan asked Ashleigh, “He’s in your room.” Ashleigh replied, Mrs. Hogan rolled her eyes and headed into the room. “When can you learn to be responsible?” she snapped at him, waking him from his slumber. “I give you one simple task and you can’t even do it. I can’t even believe I leave you alone with the girls!”

“Oh, honey, I can explain.”

“That you what, huh? That you drank yourself to sleep and skipped the turkey. I bet Ashleigh had to clean up for you, am I right?”

“Not exactly…”

“Tell me, I wanna hear it all.”

“I don’t remember.”

“Ashleigh!” Mrs. Hogan called her into the room, “What happened?” she asked her. “Nothing, mom.”

“Ashleigh, tell me the truth!”

“Nothing alright, I came home and he was already asleep.”

“Scott no wonder why you’re laid off all the time, you can’t find the decency to be responsible.”

“Why are you still married to him then? Huh?” Ashleigh snapped back, annoyed that her mother knew more than she lead on. Mrs. Hogan was surprised by Ashleigh’s comment that she pulled Ashleigh out of the room. “It’s not like that Ashleigh.”

“Like what, mom? Just tell me! If you can’t stand him, why are we still here?”

“Ashleigh, I know your sick of our fighting but that’s just what we do, we fight.”

“It’s not just that mom! He treats us like crap and you know it but you continue to have him walk all over us.”

          Craig had been hearing the whole fight and thought it was best if he just left. So he snuck down the stairs and to his surprise Sarah was right there. “Did you pay her?” Sarah asked in a snobby way. “What are you talking about?” Craig asked confused.

“Did you pay her; you can’t leave if you didn’t pay.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Just tell her to call me when this is over.” He said as he made his way towards the door. “She didn’t tell you did she?” Sarah said stopping him. “Tell me what?”

“About her past relationships, mostly about David…I thought she would’ve told you. The only reason she’s back at Degrassi is because she said she was different, not like how she used to be.”

“We talked about David…”

“But not into depth? There’s more to the story then she lead on, Craig. How do you think she wound up with David?”

“He took advantage of her…”

“And that’s what she told you.” Sarah said with a grin as she headed up the stairs to her room. Craig stood there pissed and confused for a minute, listening to Ashleigh and Mrs. Hogan fight before he headed out the door.